Lesley Ellis – The Cooking Cottage

Background

Lesley Ellis is a life long food lover and home based cook. With a background in sales and marketing, experience in managing customer service and a real passion for great tasting food, she spotted a gap in the market for bespoke, fresh, home cooked food in the outside catering industry and so The Cooking Cottage was born. Everything is prepared from fresh ingredients in her kitchen in Low Moor. This includes baking all the bread, pastries and cakes used in her gorgeous outside catering. Lesley fuses the simple delicious flavours with her real eye for presentation and her food platters look gorgeous.

Support Journey

After several years of training, coaching and mentoring both in the business and education sectors, Lesley made the decision to follow her passion for great home cooked food and initially tried working with a partner who was based in Selby. After meeting up with her local Enterprise Coach, Celia Hickson, Lesley started to develop her ideas and catered for a local company at a lunchtime meeting and received amazing feedback about the freshly made sandwiches, pastries and cakes she provided which immediately led to a regular contract. In the build up to Christmas, Lesley sold her stunning cookie Christmas trees via a Facebook marketing campaign and by advertising locally.

Where They Are Now

After her first lunchtime catering experience Lesley agreed do something a little different and provided afternoon tea for 50 barristers in Leeds with a Mad Hatters Tea-party theme. Lesley said, “Starting my own business was a little daunting and getting those first few customers took a bit of time, but now I have got started I am learning something new everyday. The support and expertise of Celia, my enterprise coach is invaluable. Not only does her real enthusiasm for what I do help to motivate me, but she’s always there with great advice and even goes out of her way to help me find new business.” Celia said “Working with someone as passionate as Lesley is a wonderful opportunity to be part of a great enterprise journey, every one of which is unique.” Lesley has the basis of an excellent business and is making contact with local offices and companies with tempting introductory offers to get her name out into the business community around Bradford. Anyone who is looking to have a great tasting and freshly prepared hot or cold buffet, afternoon tea or other bespoke event should contact Lesley to talk about what she could do to take their eating experience up to the next level.